Union man arrested for allegedly stealing, scrapping cars in 3 counties
A Union man is suspected in connection with a scheme to steal cars across three counties and sell them for scrap, authorities said.
The man, Kipp Mcrorey, 28, of 10141 Road 1315 in Union, was arrested and charged with contempt of court and grand larceny.
Sheriff Eric Clark said further charges are possible here as well as in other jurisdictions. He said Mcrorey was transferred to the custody of the Kemper County Sheriff’s Office on May 17 to face grand larceny charges there.
Clark said his office was first alerted to the thefts on May 15 when a man came into his office and reported his 1996 blue Ford Ranger was stolen from his residence on Road 541. Clark said the man noted the vehicle was out of gas.
The investigation led to a report of the vehicle being seen at a scrap yard on Columbus Avenue right off of Highway 21 North in Neshoba County.
Clark said the scrap yard had already begun to strip the vehicle down and had taken out the seats.
Investigators determined through check stubs that the vehicle had been sold to the scrap yard on May 13, for $216.79, by Mcrorey.
According to Clark, the investigation determined that Mcrorey had been driving a tow truck for a repo service and had been on a call in the area near where the vehicle had been parked on Road 541. Clark said he stole the truck on May 13 and took the truck to the scrap yard that day.
Check stubs from the scrap yard have connected Mcrorey to two other vehicles out of Kemper and Leake Counties.
Nehsoba County and Leake County authorities are yet to be able to connect Mcrorey to a specific reported theft in Leake County.
Clark said Mcrorey is suspected of taking a GMC Envoy from a home on Hopewell Road in Kemper County on May 7. Check stubs show he got $234.85, selling the vehicle for scrap on that day, Clark said.
With the help of the Kemper County Sheriff’s Office, Clark said they were able to contact the owner of the vehicle who has filed charges in Kemper County for stealing that vehicle.